McKeller Flash Fiction Frenzy
by BetherdyBabe
Summary: Originally a response to Koinekid and DaniWilder's McKeller Flash Fiction challenge. Multiple chapters will be added as they are written. An assortment of topics and challenges await you inside.
1. Realizations

**All right now, stick with me on this one. Just trying it out. And to clear it up before it's questioned, James is the name I'm giving Jennifer's dad in this story. **

**Dedicated to DaniWilder and Mr. DaniW who both need to make Jennifer's realization. **

**Thanks for suggesting this challenge, Koinekid. Thanks for looking it over quickly, Dani.**

A McKeller Flash Fiction?

_Tap tap tap_, his finger smudged the touch screen of his tablet as it whipped across the surface.

As he tapped away across the shadowed room, bright brown eyes watched their movement and then glanced down to their own screen lit up with work documents and a minimized game of solitaire. _It only takes one to change something, _James Keller's words rang through his daughter's head.

The tablet darkened as her thumb pressed the button. It was cast to the side as two bare feet hit the ground. His eyes flashed back and forth across the screen but not towards her as she advanced across the cold floor. Nor did he look up when she sat down beside him and tucked her feet in tightly to her right.

Finally earning his glance, Jennifer smiled shyly with a look of pleased contentment on her face.

"What's up?"

He saw straight through her false expressions. It's not like she could blame him, he was getting better at this, but she hoped to get away with it every now and then. "Nothing," she lightly lied.

One more glance at the screen and it too went black. A real smile adorned her features as he set it aside and turned back to her.

"I'm all yours," Rodney's face spoke volumes with one reoccurring subject: this was as far as he knew how to go into the female mind.

"Good."


	2. Would Be Rumors

Would-be Rumors

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? Too bad this wasn't Vegas. It had spread like wildfire to the tips of all six piers in a matter of minutes. How Chuck and Amelia did that she'd have to figure out. But for now quelling that rumor before Rodney heard it was most important.

And here came the man equally affected by this falsehood. To his credit he didn't look all too worried as he worked on his tablet.

"Rodney, have you heard…?" Jennifer half-asked as he glanced up at her.

"Heard what?"

Cheeks reddening, her mouth didn't respond. Why was this so hard? "That, supposedly, that we're…" She couldn't say it. The words wouldn't form on her mouth as she had trained them not to for months.

"That we're supposedly dating?" Rodney finished for her, cheeks only slightly darker than when he'd stepped around the opposite corridor.

She could swear her entire face could rival a cooked lobster's. A brisk nod only turned it redder.

"I had kinda hoped you started that," Rodney said, speaking his mind.

"Really?" The color started to return to normal with her growing grin.

"Of course. I've been crazy about you since I first laid eyes on you," he replied, tucking his tablet under one arm and drawing her closer with the other.

Her body pressing comfortably against his, her eyes pleasurably widened. Was he going to kiss her? Either his lips were getting closer or her head was leaning towards his, but the distance between them shortened considerably.

Her eyes closed, waiting to feel his breath against hers. Waiting.

Eyes opening again, the walls of her quarters became apparent. With a growl, she turned over and forced herself back to the land of dreams.


	3. Joint Parenting

Joint Parenting

"Hey Daddy, guess what!" shrieked eight-year-old Lorelei McKay as she ran towards him, leaving Mommy behind to close the front door.

Knowing he had an audience, one made up of sneaking glances by the mother, the father put on a show. Bending down, he scooped up the giggling little girl and swung her around onto his unforgiving back.

Once settled, the golden-haired child tried again. "You'll never believe what I learned today, Daddy!"

"What did you learn, Lor?" Rodney finally asked.

"How to build a nuclear weapon," she stated matter-of-factly.

Jennifer's eyes snapped up to Rodney's but all he could do as a father, as a genius, as a father to a genius, was bust out a wide, proud smile.

"Seriously? That's fantastic! They'll be teaching you calculus by the time you're ten!" Rodney's eyes were bright with pride as he grinned at his wife. The stern look he received in return didn't look quite as happy. He put Lorelei down as Jennifer motioned for her.

"We're both proud of you, sweetie, but promise me you'll never take that knowledge lightly. No building nuclear bombs just to prove you know how." The brown-eyed mother looked deep into the same shade of blue eyes as was possessed by the man she happily married. They looked sweeter, more innocent than the other identical pair.

"I promise, Mommy."

"Okay, go start on your homework for a bit and then we'll start dinner and see if the best method to building a nuclear weapon has changed in the last 38 years." She gave a small smile, remembering that story.

Beckoning over her husband after their daughter left, Jennifer said, "You build one nuclear bomb…"

"I know, I know." He pulled her into his embrace and kissed away the end of her sentence.


	4. What If 1

**Okay, so this story is now combining two challenges for a head's up. Thanks for the challenge, Dani and Ladygris.**

**500 on the nose. Thank you for looking it over for me quickly, Dani.**

What if Rodney Couldn't Figure Something Out?

His head tilted. Farther to the right it leaned as his eyebrows bunched up. Finally the paper was turned sideways as he tried again. "I don't get it."

A pair of bright brown eyes looked at the transfixed blues before them and regarded him for a moment. "What don't you get, Rodney?"

"Here, you look." The paper was handed to the more intuitive of the pair and he continued to peer at it over her shoulder with one hand thoughtfully on his hip. Like it or not, that was one habit he never could shake after his incident with Laura Cadman.

Eyes quickly flitting to the page, Jennifer righted the paper. Her eyebrows slowly knit together as well. This didn't make any sense at all. Lines criss-crossed here and there and colors collided. She turned the paper herself and then back with confusion apparent on her face until finally, it clicked. A warm smile lit up her face at the design and she handed the paper back to Rodney.

"Well? What is it?" His voice sounded irritated and it made the grin framing her features widen. For once, the great Rodney McKay hadn't figured something out first.

"You're looking too hard."

"Looking too hard? There's nothing here that makes any sense at all," Rodney insisted.

Her eyes glinting up at him, Jennifer complacently replied, "It's there."

Squinting now, he asked, "A double helix?"

A head shake held his answer.

"Simple, eh?" He seemed to mull it over. "A slinky?"

It couldn't be helped this time, an innocent laugh bubbled out and he gave a short growl in return. "Not quite that simple, Rodney. You're getting closer. Look at the whole thing," his wife advised.

"This is like Spanish class studying the works of Pablo Picasso all over again," Rodney grumbled.

"Here, I'll help you." Jennifer's hand took his and dragged it along the paper until it rested on an area mostly colored blue. "The double helix you saw is really water colored in the easy way. The top part here is yellow, most likely indicating a setting sun. The rest of this mismatched area up here is…" His hand was made to encircle sharper, brighter lines toward the middle as she left him to figure it out on his own.

"Is," he continued then paused, forming his thoughts, "land?"

Jennifer nodded encouragingly.

"Is it…" he stopped midsentence as realization finally dawned on him. "It's Atlantis."

"You've got it." An arm wrapped around his waist and she beamed up at him in pride.

He continued to stare at the paper their little three-year-old daughter drew for them and suddenly said, "Well that's the last time we have Lorne babysit."

"Hey now, that's not too bad for only being three," Jennifer defended.

"He's not babysitting because he'd hold her back," Rodney clarified.

Another small laugh escaped her lips as she tightened her hold on his waist. A kiss was deposited on his cheek. He was shaping up to be a great father.


	5. Lighting Candles From Stars

1000 words, it's officially a flash fiction. :) First real attempt at first-person, all mistakes are apologized for ahead of time. Thanks for looking at it quickly for a working-order read, Dani.

Lighting Candles From Stars

Shivering in the abusing wind, I sit myself down and reverently look up.

Mom used to tell me that each rain drop had fallen from a different star. As countless as the stars were, so too was the rain. I believed her for the longest of time. Even longer than her time on Earth with me. That's why I didn't want to believe in the simple truth of the water cycle at first. This memory was one of the very few I had of her.

And now, staring at all the stars in the sky and realizing how unorthodox it would be of me to even think it, I wish it would rain. Maybe, I don't know, maybe it would help me feel closer to her in this time of need. I couldn't go through all I had by myself. Mom would have understood, I know it. My request having been formally sent to the rain clouds a few miles off over the shoreline, I turn from the pier's edge to head back inside.

Yet I don't make it that far. Surprisingly, Rodney McKay is standing silently behind me as if waiting. Which he very well could be. Waiting for his turn to have the pier to himself. My feet take me past him and closer to the warm indoors before a voice almost carried off by the wind stops me.

"Stay just a minute. Please."

I'm not sure I heard him correctly or if his voice was anything more than a figment of my imagination, but I stop and wait anyway. Anything he had to say, I would stay to hear.

"Listen, I know, uh… my sister has already… thanked you and all. And I did too but not… not personally." His fingers fidget together as he keeps his stare on the ground to my left.

"For what? I didn't do anything significant, Rodney."

A small laugh caught in the wind and he looked towards me, his eyes appearing hollow and tired yet still managing to sparkle. How was that possible?

"Because saving my life isn't anything significant." He shrugs, a small smile lifting the corners of his mouth in something close to amusement. His eyes were still shining as bright as the moon when realization finally hit me and I glanced over to the reflecting body of light strung up in the sky.

A smile I don't show him lights up my face better than any moon ever could. Not just the arrogance, but the carefree attitude charm my attention.

"Anyway, I came to thank you for all you did the other day. You, you never gave up on me." His hands were now wringing each other. "Everyone else was giving me a day to say goodbye, but not you... Why not?" He asked this slowly, as if a bigger picture hung in the balance.

My mind raced for an answer, for anything resembling the truth except for… "It's my responsibility as a medical professional to care for my patients until the very end." There, perfect answer.

"That may be true but I don't think that's it. That only merits your determination, not the care given." For the first time since coming out here, he stares me dead in the eyes. It's haunting to say the least. He wants an answer, the right one.

"I…" I can't tell him. "You're too important, Rodney." To me… I let out a whispered breath, holding inside my additional thoughts but only barely.

His eyes flicker, much like a flame, and they no longer look tired but focused and intent. I widen my eyes and softly bite my lip as he takes a step closer. "Important to who?" he persists.

To me, I instantly want to answer. Wetness settled into the crevices just to the side of my eyes as I fought to rephrase the words already glued to my tongue while holding back any emotion. "To the expedition. To everyone."

Not even the moon lit up his eyes as he processed my reply. Mouth still open from my last response, it tried to form more words, calming words, but nothing came to mind except the unspeakable two. It felt so wrong to let the light out of his eyes, especially since I don't know the exact reason it left. He should be happy to know others really care about him. That he's needed.

The next thing I know, his back is towards me and he's passing by, closer to the nearest tower than me. I need to say something and now. But what? What could possibly stop him? He came out here for something other than to thank me. I try to stop him with the first thing that comes to my lips. "I wasn't ready to let you go, Rodney."

Lord help me if he heard me.

I freeze and turn, crossing my arms in the new breeze of wind. The last thing I need to see is his unbroken stride returning him to the building. Never did I expect to feel his hands rest firmly upon my upper arms. And if that didn't cause the tears, it was probably the words spoken next.

"Is that really true?"

Against better thought, against voluntary control, I nod rapidly as if I need him to understand this more than my next breath.

And then the option of another breath is wholly erased as he turns me, taking me in his arms.

"Thank you, Jennifer," he mumbles into my hair. For what, I'm still not sure.

So full of emotions I have yet to figure out myself, I say nothing for fear of a broken voice and momentarily clutch him to me.

The next round of tears finally threaten to make an appearance now that they have a destination other than the cold, metal floor. I don't let them. Instead I slowly pull back, my hands skimming down his arms. Smiling timidly, I silently thank him for his persistence.


	6. What's Chocolate between Friends?

**First things first, I have to mention that the talented Koinekid has all rights to the McKeller-holiday territory. This popped into my head and I hope this isn't stepping within his firmly-set boundaries.**

What's Chocolate between Friends?

Frustrated, bunched up eyebrows hovered atop of two reflecting eyes scanning the lit up screen below but suddenly rose higher as they encountered a wrapped package sliding into view. Glancing up, Rodney came face to face with the giver.

"I know it's not exactly customary but with chocolate supplies so low, I just figured, well, here." Jennifer Keller released her hold on the small box leaving it to rest on his tablet and turned as if to leave.

"What-What's it for?" Rodney questioned, surprised at her sudden appearance and gift.

"It's Valentine's Day," a blush erupted upon her cheeks, "and I was talking to Miko earlier, she was saying how the women in Japan give men chocolates today rather than the other way around. I just thought I'd put the chocolates to good use."

"Where'd you get them?" He cautiously started to lift the lid.

Noticing his look, Jennifer answered, "Oh, you don't have to worry about anything citrus-based in them. I got them from a friend back in Wisconsin. She owns a small chocolate store and is allergic to citrus as well curiously enough." Jennifer stated in a rambling tone nearing a whisper as she wrung her hands lightly together.

"Ah, then thank you. I'll be sure to enjoy them." His eyes lifted to meet hers and in them, he saw one of the rare smiles that brightened her entire face.

"No problem," Jennifer replied happily before leaving in the direction of the barracks' level.

Slowly he stopped to reflect on the occurrence he just sailed through fairly mindlessly. _I just got chocolates from Jennifer. I just got chocolates from…_ "John!" Rodney just about yelled into his earpiece, "You'll never believe what just happened."

John's eyebrows disappeared under his bangs as he commented, "Quite an impressive bounty."

"Yes, but why did she give it to me?" Rodney asked again as he paced back and forth across his quarters, passing John with each turn.

"Don't know, but I'd want to go find out," John none too subtly hinted, leaning back in the desk chair.

"Right, right, right." Rodney thoughtlessly snapped his fingers, adding, "Then I should head to her…" The thought of seeking her out at her quarters stopped his sentence flat.

"You've got it, buddy. Good luck." A warm hand landed on the back of Rodney's shoulder and encouragingly propelled him toward the door, quickly following him through it and heading down the hall.

"Wait, I should bring the chocolates," Rodney said to thin air now that John had left and was well down the hallway. _Maybe she'll want to share._

Opening the box once more to admire the first chocolates ever given to him, he found one slot oddly empty. Eyes widening and filling with rage, he jabbed at his earpiece for the second time that day. "Sheppard!"


	7. New Year's Resolutions 1

Did I see somewhere it had to be 300? Oops, I thought it said 618.

A New Year's Resolution

"Where's Daddy?" a little voice called out to the sole parent before her.

Jennifer felt bad that the only answer she could offer her daughter was one she wouldn't like. "He's working, honey."

The mother busied herself with gently tucking the soft down comforter around the wiggling girl. Something was missing in the picture and it definitely showed in Lorelei's thickened lower lip.

"But he promised to be here." Lorelei pushed down the covers around her as if waiting for her father to enter the room to do it himself. "He promised to tuck me in, remember?" A look into her crystallized eyes and Jennifer could see the hurt and questions flowing across them with ease: _How can this be fair? A promise is a promise and parents aren't allowed to break them, right?_

She wished she could answer them and say no, it isn't fair. She knew a lot about that having been put to bed by a babysitter when her dad was working late in the attorney office. "Lor, you're right. I promise after tonight your father will be here. We'll even make it a pinky promise and you know that's unbreakable," Jennifer offered the five-year-old, giving her a wide smile and a kiss on the forehead for accepting the proffered pinky with a shake from her own.

"Okay, but you promised," Lorelei reminded her mother before allowing her to tuck the blanket back into place at her sides.

"Yes I did, and I'll keep it too. Good night, sweetheart." One last kiss on the forehead and Jennifer left for the short hallway, switching off the light and keeping a crack in the doorway on her way past.

Next course of action already evident, she reached up for her ever-present headset. "Rodney, honey, time for bed."

The answer was near instantaneous as it didn't come from her earpiece. "Why, did I miss it?" Rodney called from the newly-opened doorway into their family's quarters.

Jennifer lowered her hand from her ear and gave a nod. "I just put her down."

"Sorry, I…" he started, making a glance toward the doorway he knew held his daughter, "got caught up."

"That's okay," Jennifer replied, stepping up to place a kiss on his stubble-laden cheek and wrinkling her nose in distaste – something to work on later. "Oh, but I did promise her you would be here to tuck her in tomorrow night. Better not make a liar out of me, McKay."

Rodney smiled and stuck his index finger in the air in his true explanatory fashion. "That's not a problem. I already plan on being back to tuck her in. It's New Year's tomorrow and I made my resolution early. She'll never have to go to bed without the option of me being there. That's actually why I was late today. You see, I had to finish looking over all of Radek's work and then start modifying the sensors and cameras in the lab. I think I can set them up to transfer to my tablet directly. No need to stay and double check everything before I leave for the night. Knocks off half an hour at least if I can do it after coming back here."

"Anything to make sure I don't have to put Daddy's girl to bed when she doesn't want me to," Jennifer smiled in return, wrapping her arms comfortably around his neck. "So, staying up until midnight with me?"

"As long as I can steal one of those midnight kisses early," he replied, easily taking advantage of her tilted head to cover her lips with his.


	8. Sickness isn't the Only Thing to Fear

500 exactly. Thanks, Ladygris and DaniWilder, for the What If challenge.

What if Rodney Wasn't a Hypochondriac?

"Rodney, really, no closer. You remember last time." Jennifer allowed a second's smile to cross her lips from the memory but kept to her authoritative position with the blanket pulled up to mid-waist.

"Your voice sounds hoarse. You really shouldn't use it too much. Let it rest and all that. The soup I brought you should help." He took another couple steps closer and stopped at the edge of the bed, offering it to her.

She took the entire tray loaded with blue jello, a fruit cup, apple sauce, milk, and a container of yogurt as well as the large bowl of chicken dumpling soup. The trouble he had gone to so she could eat something with her sore throat and cold was really sweet, but he couldn't stay. She really didn't want to get him sick. Again.

He took a seat on the bed next to her and immediately reached for the fruit cup, opening up her favorite first.

"Rodney," her voice was scratchy and off-pitch but it still had the same strict warning. The time for niceties would come later when she was better and he was still healthy. "Thank you for the food, but get out."

"And leave you here sick by yourself? I don't think so."

His immediate refusal scrunched up her eyebrows. She should have known he wouldn't agree. Where was the endless stream of problems only he could fix when she needed them? "At least go sit over there." Her hand waved in the general direction of the desk on the opposite side of the room.

"Not a chance. I'm taking care of you from right here." He offered her a quick, cheeky grin, letting her know there was nothing she could do to stop him but pulled it into a frown when he caught sight of her flushed face. He pressed the back of his hand against her forehead before she could protest and deepened his frown at the heat. "See? If I had left, I wouldn't have known you had a fever. You need sleep, Jennifer," Rodney said, pulling the tray away to be saved for later and coming back to the bed to pull the covers up more.

Sweet or not, that was the last straw. He was going to catch her cold if he pressed his hand against her forehead one more time. _Time for reinforcement._ "Get out or I'm calling Carson."

"Go ahead, he'll agree with me." The smug grin returned as he swooped down to give her a kiss on the side of her forehead just to further press his luck.

"That's it." Her hand reached up to her far ear. "Keller to Cadman."

"I'm going! I'm going!" Rodney finally turned and hastily made his exit, not bothering to look back.

Jennifer smiled with a weary sigh and pulled out her comm. from the drawer of the nightstand just in case he came back. She then settled down against her pillow for a much needed nap.


	9. Mer and Lor

Mer and Lor

"Welcome home, hon," Jennifer offered, grabbing her uniform jacket and pulling it on, tousling her hair in every direction.

"Hey," he offered back wearily, "sorry for cutting it so close." Rodney leaned in for a kiss as she made to dash across the room past him and she happily obliged.

"That's okay, and just as a head's up, Lor's got a friend over." She collected her comm. and pulled her hair into a sloppy ponytail before rushing to the door, her feet never seeming to hit the ground.

"Okay." A friend was a good thing at a young age such as six. Even better when his little girl hadn't been around anyone even remotely near her age in this small, isolated city. "Wait, who?"

His question went unanswered as Jennifer was probably halfway to the Infirmary by now. Whatever the circumstances, she was never late.

A list of people ran through his head and he mentally shot them down. Though all his, dare he say it, friends spent their fair share of time with his daughter, just about all of them had to work right now. Rodney had also already made it quite clear to Jennifer and Lorelei that Torren, only eight years older than her, was not allowed over for play dates in her room. Lunch, fine, but with the possibility of a lockable door between them and the nearest adult, definitely not. His guesses gone, only one solution remained.

"Lor?" Following the rules insisted upon by his wife, he knocked and waited for an answer.

"Come in, Daddy." A relieved smile always crossed his face when he heard that. He just dread the day he would have to decide to accept being denied access or take off the locking mechanism. But if she could handle this level of maturity so early on, so could he.

The door whooshed open before him and he saw the normal amount of clutter lining the floor. That didn't really bother him as Lorelei was always really good about cleaning up her messes. Better than he was at times. What did worry him was the lack of another person in the room.

"Where's your friend?" Not the question he had come in to ask but it seemed the more pertinent of the two now.

A shrug appeared to be the only answer he would receive until she added, "I think she ran off to the bathroom."

She. That he could deal with.

Lorelei got up to inspect the bathroom and reached her hand up a bit to open the door. A beam lit up her face as she held out her hand to thin air. "She just finished drying her hands and was having problems with the door. Thanks, Dad."

There were many little girl things Rodney didn't understand: tea parties, dolls, a complete lack of interest in Batman, but this one topped them all. Who was she talking about?

"Mary, that's not very nice." Lorelei turned her head to face the way her hand was still sticking out.

"What, what did she say? And where is she?" It was too early in the morning after pulling an all-nighter for his latest discovery to comprehend anything that was going on in the room clearing holding only two people.

"She said your hair is sticking up funny, but she said she was sorry." Her face lit up with glee as she seemed to remember something funny. "And did you know her first name is Meredith too and she can't stand it either?" A small giggle filled the room and she continued, "That's really funny 'cause you're a boy and she's a girl."

Having no one her age was something that Rodney brushed off a bit earlier on in life but now it concerned him. "When did she say this exactly?"

"Just now." Confusion etched across the six-year-old's face as her father continued to act like Mary hadn't said a thing. She normally was shier than this but Daddy should be polite and at least listen when she talks. "I know she's anatomically-challenged but you're being rude, Daddy."

"Anatomically-challenged," he slowly repeated. "Oh, you mean she's an imaginary friend."

"Daddy!" Lorelei screeched, "it means she doesn't have a body, not feelings!"

"Uh." He found himself caught between the truth of reality and the reality of the truth in front of him. "Sorry?"

* * *

**Hey everyone, I have a short request to make of anyone willing to participate. If you will, please leave a review letting me know if there's a story of mine you'd like to see updated before all others. I'm stuck trying to figure out which one to work on first. Thanks to anyone willing to help me out.**


	10. What If 2

500 words written and one hour spent. Now back to writing Fluffy (and, you know, maybe homework…)

What if Rodney Partook in a Creative Activity?

Perspective, that's what she had said. But I had plenty of that. I perceived things as they were all the time. Constants really were constant, such as pi and Sheppard's poor golf game.

But Jennifer insisted so here we were, spending the practically city-wide day off doing this nonsense. What could this military man possibly teach me?

"I deal mostly with landscapes but you have to learn the basics first. Do you both see that contrast? The light here and the shadow all along there?" he asked, pointing along the object we were supposedly using as a model to show what he meant.

Everything he asked seemed like the same question to me. But every time he said something, Jennifer would nod in response, eager to understand. That was Jennifer for you. To me it was simply an apple. Something to eat, not paint.

"Just about done, Doctor McKay?" Lorne questioned from behind Jennifer, not bothering to come check for himself.

"Just about," I repeat, exasperated.

To check out Jennifer's progress, I walk around the double-sided easel and neatly drop my jaw. The blend of colors and distinction in light is astounding. "Almost looks edible, Jen," I laugh and watch her features brighten. Right there, perfect.

After returning to my side, I notice the distinction in my painting looks paltry after seeing hers. I chalk it up to different subjects and less light on mine but take it back. I knew Jennifer would excel at this.

I took a moment to watch her paint, her eyes shifting every few seconds to the apple as her brush stroked evenly along the paper. I looked back at her in small glances, casually continuing my piece as I did. I couldn't help but notice the way her eyes squint and lips twist in thought when she focused on one particular spot on her painting she hasn't declared perfect yet.

"Doctor McKay," Lorne exclaimed from his new spot behind me. "This is the best representation I've ever seen firsthand. Why didn't you say you could paint?"

I shrug in reply. "It didn't fit on the resume."

"Didn't fit on the…" he reiterates for me, still looking over my piece in amazement.

Jennifer hopped off her stool to come see but froze when she saw the subject of my painting. "Rodney…" she managed to get out as her hands came to cover her mouth and some of the surprise. "I didn't know you were… Do you really… This is how you see me?" she finally asked.

I look back up to her watery eyes and add a bit more color to her high cheek bones on the canvas. Color always seemed to creep up there throughout the day and I wanted it to be accurate. "Depends if that's a good thing."

Her arms wrap around my shoulders and a kiss lands on my cheek. I guess it was a good thing.

Lorne allows us our moment, then, "Any chance you'd help me with my portraits?"

* * *

**I don't often write Lorne so sorry for any wrong characterization. Thanks for taking the time to read, everyone.**


	11. When the Snow Melts

The riddle inside is not self-made; it originally comes from the anime _Fruits Basket. _The owners of the anime own it, not me. Nor do I own anything SGA related, though I tend to forget that. Don't own Aleve either as it would be.

I don't write Ronon often so I ask that you excuse me for any wrong characterizations please.

For you, Koinekid. Didn't have anything to publish so I made it up on the spot. Apologies ahead of time.

When the Snow Melts

The weather of the past week had been dreary – somewhere between a cold mist and rain – and had left Jennifer with a question her father used to ask every year around this time when there was snow on the ground.

"When the snow melts, what does it become?" Jennifer's tone was casual as she packed up the change of civilian clothes she had worn down to the gym.

Well that was simple. Hands subconsciously stacking themselves over his five-foot fighting stick, Ronon answered proudly, simply, "Water."

She nodded and gave him a quick smile. "That's right."

It was an odd question, that much he understood, but he had gotten it right so he dropped all further thought about it as they both stepped through the gym's doors and started toward their quarters. Just as casually, he asked in his deep timbre, "Want to grab lunch?"

His request had been plain enough yet she stumbled over her words. "Oh, not, uh, not right now, thanks. I need to catch up on some paperwork before thinking of taking a second break for lunch."

He shrugged, giving off his best look of indifference. "Okay." Jennifer watched for a moment as he strode down the hall with purpose, then turned to head to her quarters for a quick shower before starting on that paperwork.

* * *

Performance reviews for her many staff were always slow, but today's especially so. Even after taking her small lunch break, she couldn't be more than three-fourths through. It wasn't until Rodney ambled in, a frown on his face and a hand pressed to his head, that Jennifer looked up from her work.

"I ran out. Do you have more?" Rodney asked, handing her an empty bottle of the naproxen Aleve.

She nodded, going over to the medicine cabinet with her key. As she opened it, she asked merely out of nothing else to say, "When the snow melts, what does it become?"

His aching mind laughed at the simplicity and coughed up the answer immediately but he shut his mouth for once to really think about the strange question. It couldn't be that simple. He brought his hand down and regarded her carefully as she turned around with his newly filled bottle. No, this was Jennifer. If anyone else asked, he would scoff out the answer and be done with the idiotic question but she meant something else, of that much he was certain. Or at least he was certain it was possible. Probable, more like it. That in mind, he dismissed the answer.

"Is your head hurting that much, McKay?" She was teasing and the merriment in her eyes gave her away completely. He could see now he was right.

So he took a guess.

Stressing her name to tell her he caught and disapproved of the teasing, he answered, "When the snow melts, Jennifer, it becomes spring."

And now he just had to wait and see if his answer held up. He hoped it would or all confidence in reading the woman in front of him would be lost. It had taken him over a year to get this far as it was.

Jennifer stared neutrally into his blue eyes and then she nodded again, her voice small, factual, "That's the answer I was looking for."

Triumph lit up his face as he grinned. Even with a headache, he could interpret what Jennifer meant. "Great." His confidence built up, he went for it. "Have plans for dinner yet? I could save our normal breakfast table?"

A smile finally cracked to the surface. "I'd like that."


	12. Fragile Fears

**This ties back to Fluffy Clouds and fits in to the short period spent back on Atlantis before the wedding. (I'm hoping this will allude rather pointedly to their wedding song.)**

**This also officially combines two challenges: Dwparsnip's Significant Other Song Challenge and the Dark and Stormy Night Challenge created by Ladygris and Theicemenace. Thank you, all three. And in such a case… I reserve the right to combine the word count to 1500. **

Fragile Fears

It was a dark and stormy night, defined by the rain pattering against the metal flooring on the balcony outside. But to the woman shivering under layers of blankets just inside from the storm, the building sound was torrential. Each drop of water had played a personal part in hydroplaning her parents' car in her mind.

Jennifer pulled a few of the innermost blankets toward her chin and scrunched her legs up closer to her body. If anyone had been within the blankets with her, they would have heard a slight whimper as the thunder zeroed in on her ears. But no one was there. She was alone facing this storm in all its terror as it replayed scenes from years ago.

Light from outside flickered much like a strobe light and her eyes widened as it suddenly went black as midnight. A crackle followed and it sounded like the sky was splitting apart and revealing not heaven but hell where creatures of water, air, light, and sound were ready to beat down her veranda door.

And it made sense. They had taken her mother, why wouldn't they come back for her?

She couldn't take it anymore and closed her eyes against it all, but the images of her father returning home – alone – to bring her to the hospital that fateful night came crashing back, almost hurting her as much as her parents' car crash from the nearly flooding roads had hurt her mother.

Shivers still wracked her frame as the sound of the rain and thunder penetrated even her self-encouraging thoughts. The wind whipped past her balcony door and sounded like it was tearing it apart slowly to get at her. She nearly screamed when she heard the sound of a door opening as if the wind had actually achieved its goal. Instead she threw back the covers and ran to the real reason a door had opened into her quasi sanctuary.

Confused but enveloping her in his embrace all the same, Rodney chuckled, "Thanks for the eager welcome home."

It wasn't until he noticed her tense and trembling muscles that he understood, as he so rarely did. A hand ran down her hair as the other went around her waist. "I'm afraid of whales."

With no rise, he tried to gauge the depth of her fear and frowned in belated realization.

Her hands were fisted on his chest as she tucked herself in closer to block out at least the light.

Another rumble of thunder tore through the sky and dropped millions of individual bullets of water raining down to hit the metal roofing. An echoing crack of thunder followed it and Jennifer jumped from within his arms.

Then he did the unthinkable. Rodney stepped away from her and walked over to his desk. She was torn from following him or trying to stand there on her own and ward off the fear by herself. Lightning flashed and she leapt back to the bed, weakly pulling the blankets back on top of her before the resounding boom of thunder came.

The traitor came back and got into place behind her on the bed. As much as she didn't want to, she accepted his offer to lean against his chest and felt him fit large, sound-eliminating headphones over her ears. The sound of sweet silence against the storm raging nearby calmed her instantly. The light would have no resounding blast to chill her to the bone. It was as harmless as a camera's flash.

She could now look at the lightning and smile for no sound would be threatening to turn her knees to jelly as it crashed through her every nerve and remind her of that fateful night. Now it simply transfixed her, the brilliance of the light and the sudden blackness.

Rodney gently pressed his iPod into her hand and urged her thumb over the play button.

Jennifer glanced at his roughened fingers covering hers, watching as they fell in place around her waist to rest on her stomach.

Instead of looking at the name of the song he wanted her to hear, she pressed play and let the iPod slip out of her hand to the side of their thighs before covering his hands and closing her eyes.

The blissful strains made by the tell-tale guitar strums of _Sting_ softly surrounded her from all sides making it easy to see why Rodney had his headphones on so often while pouring over his tablet. He didn't strike her as a musical person but after hearing of his adventures with the piano and getting a firsthand demonstration of his headphones, she couldn't exactly see him otherwise.

The chorus offlowed from the small speakers and she instantly smiled, true this time. No longer was she in a darkened room in the middle of a terrible storm but back in the barley fields near her house in the States. The air wasn't moist with the heavy scent of rain but warm and tingling to the senses.

The summer breeze lifted a lock of her hair, sending the curl waywardly. And there he was, still sitting behind her on their bed in the middle of the fields of gold, providing a backrest for her as he had become accustomed to in the few times they had revisited the spot.

A robin swooped to a lower branch of the tree over the way and cheerily called for other robins to come join in watching the two curious new inhabitants of their area. They chattered wildly at the invaders but seemed at ease with the golden-haired woman reading just below them, threading her bare feet through the thick patch of grass surrounding the tree.

And to Jennifer, no sight could have been more familiar. She herself had discovered the feel of the grass between her toes in that exact spot kept her mind focused on both the text she was studying and the nature surrounding her. It was only fitting her mother had made the same discovery.

Her eyes burned to stay open, nearly bringing her to tears. What she would give to be able to call out to her mother and hear her voice again.

Oblivious to her quickly-created world within the headphones, Rodney tightened his hold on her, pressed a light kiss to her temple, and silenced any thoughts she had of disturbing the deep serenity in the imagined field.

She finally closed her eyes on her pictured mother, the wet smell of rain once again assaulting her and a flash of lightning lighting up the room. Yet she smiled. Her hands came up to brush off the headphones and set them and the iPod to the side of the bed before turning in Rodney's arms.

Thunder roared across the sky almost as if welcoming her into her fear once again. Rodney had his hands on the small of her back, ready to caress away any terror shown, but instead she stretched up from her position at his shoulder to kiss his cheek and he found himself trapped in her gaze as he leaned into the kiss. Her eyes, deep in color and chipped with flecks of light, held his firmly, tenderly.

"Thank you."

It had been such a simple act to mend a complex, deep-rooted fear that an equally simple response seemed almost appropriate. A fear had been fixed and a heart healed because her mother wasn't dying in a devastating car crash every time thunder tore through the sky but was smiling in a field untouched by sin itself. It seemed as if Rodney had shown her a glimpse of heaven. And she couldn't thank him enough.

"What's going on in that pretty head of yours?" Rodney stroked her cheek with his thumb, the question asked there much more obvious: _Are you all right? _

Another genuine smile surfaced and pressed itself against his wrist. "Just picturing my mother in a better light."

He nodded; words always fled him when her mother was mentioned. It had become somewhat of a taboo between the two of them, just as they didn't talk of his parents.

So when she did bring her up, he was deathly silent and prayed she would share the depth of the hurt stored in that single night.

"It was a car crash, you know," she said, stating a fact rather than choking out a fear.

"Jennifer, you don't have to do this."

Her nod was as resolute as his had been. "Yes, I do. Because thanks to you, I can see her smiling again."

His eyes spoke it all but he repeated for them, "Share only what you're comfortable with." At the same time, his hand came up to run through the hair caught behind her ear, urging her without words to share everything.

The new smile on her face faded, almost rueful at the events of the past, but rose again at the touch of his lips to her forehead.

"It was a dark and stormy night."

* * *

**Fields of Gold is owned and performed by Sting.**


	13. Magical Kisses

Inspiration these days… This one comes from an ad on Yahoo.

Disclaimer: I can only rightly claim little Lor.

Magical Kisses

"Daddy!" A wail classified early on as one of pain came from the next room over.

Jennifer spared a glance at Rodney before treading swiftly to the door, Rodney managing to make it a step in front of her.

The door swished open and he was in front of their daughter in seconds. "What's wrong, Lor?" Their little four-year-old was cradled in his arms before she had a chance to answer.

Her head against his shoulder, she mumbled something resembling, "Bumped my head on the bed." A single finger pointed at the side of her wooden bed frame.

Rodney immediately sat down on the bed to settle her in his lap so he could check for injuries. Jennifer watched as he interacted with their daughter, asking repeatedly where she bumped it down to the exact millimeter.

"Here, Daddy." A pout clouded the little girl's features as she touched the spot for emphasis.

"That's two inches off from your last answer," Rodney supplied with a raised eyebrow.

Jennifer decided it was time to step in. "Come here, baby girl."

Lorelei wiggled off her father's lap and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck before being lifted up into her arms.

"It hurts here?" Jennifer questioned lightly as she brought one hand up to pull back some of Lorelei's hair, looking for a bump of any kind.

Her daughter offered a sniffling nod in response but Rodney interjected, "An inch to the right actually."

Seeing no bump, Jennifer pressed a kiss over the area. "Does it still hurt?"

With a smile, Lorelei chirped, "Uh-uh. Your kisses must be magical."

A smile of her own in Rodney's direction and she answered, "Just ask Daddy."

Lorelei was deposited on Rodney's lap once more so she could ask, "Are they really, Daddy? Are they?"

"Of course they are. Why do you think you have such sweet dreams every night?"

After mulling it over for a minute, she replied, "Because she kisses me good night!" The revelation had her on a roll as she added, "But I still have good dreams when you kiss me good night. Does that mean your kisses are magical too?"

"You bet they are," Jennifer responded, leaning over Lorelei's head to steal a quick kiss of her own.

"Hey, me too! Me too! I want to be magical!"

Both laughed and pressed their magical lips to her cheeks and blew. She squealed in delight and playfully pushed away their mouths.

"Time for bed, so you can have all those sweet dreams." Rodney stood up with her still in his arms and placed her near the edge of the blanket so she could crawl under it. Once she looked comfy, Rodney offered a kiss to her forehead. "Good night, Lor."

Jennifer stepped up, tucked her in a bit more, kissed her forehead as well and said, "Sweet dreams, baby girl."

Jennifer was getting the lights when she heard, "Mommy?"

"Yeah, hon?" She made her way back to the bed in the darkened room.

"Do you have to be kissed lots each day to stay magical?"

A smile lifted her features as she answered easily, "Lots and lots."

"Good. Make sure to kiss Daddy and me lots. I always want your kisses to be magical."

"That you can count on." Jennifer tucked a stray strand of golden hair behind her daughter's ear and gave her cheek another kiss for proof.

* * *

Once back in their room, Rodney addressed the last conversation. "Kiss me lots and lots, huh?"

Placing her arms comfortably around his neck, she answered, "Quite the hassle to stay magical, isn't it?"

He stole a kiss. "You bet."


	14. Yes or No, Rodney?

Yes, another bland truth or dare (simply to let you know I'm alive). 300 words.

Yes or No, Rodney?

"Truth."

Rodney smiled half-heartedly; already sick of playing the game started two rounds ago but finding it impossible to outright scowl when the person directly to his right wouldn't ask anything he knew he couldn't handle.

"Suit yourself," Jennifer shrugged at the lost opportunity and then narrowed her eyes in thought.

The rest of Rodney's team, Radek, Carson, and Evan sat in varying positions around the misshapen circle surrounding two mess hall tables. Some had paperwork due, others were returning from a tiring day shift, yet all were roped into the game and found it entertaining enough to stay for a while.

"Okay, I've got it." No one really surfaced from their distant expressions besides Teyla, Carson, and Rodney yet she continued, "Have you ever thought about kissing me, Rodney?"

At this, everyone looked up with a snap. What had she said?

With all eyes trained on him-some in terror, some in humor-Rodney responded with uncertainty and barely withheld trepidation, "Isn't that against the rules? Asking a question about yourself?"

An eyebrow raised, Jennifer brought it before the impromptu jury, "Any objections?"

Negative answers lit up across the board, most of which were given without hesitation as anticipation took over.

He finally released the scowl he had been saving for his next questioner and answered with newfound confidence, willing anyone to knock him down. "Yes."

"Lately?"

All eyes again turned to Rodney. "That's two questions."

"I promise they're leading somewhere," she replied simply.

His chin lifted for a stronger front against the glares shot his way. "Yes."

Her fingers curled around his to intertwine their hands. "Will you forgive me?" Before he could ask what for, she indulged him with a kiss.

Quite a few disbelieving faces were pulled as all six bystanders watched Rodney grin winningly and reply, "Yes."


	15. The Glass Debate

Thanks to JperW for the suggestions including the title. Thanks to hopefully understandable logic for the rest.

The Glass Debate

"Half empty," John reasoned of the glass on the mess hall table.

"It can't be half empty, Sheppard," Rodney replied, "You can't have half of nothing."

"It's a statement," John argued.

"It's a mathematical impossibility."

Four other pairs of eyes were drawn to the glass by now, some gauging their own view and others visually announcing their confusion.

"It's a philosophy question that relates to your position as an optimist or a pessimist," Zelenka quickly supplied for Teyla and Ronon.

With hope and confidence in her slim understanding of the new game, Teyla questioned, "It is filled halfway with water, does that not make it half full?"

Zelenka's crooked glasses were pushed back up the bridge of his nose with a quick motion of his index finger. They slid back down as he shook his head. "Both of you would be incorrect technically speaking. It is half full of water, and likewise half full with the many different elements within the air making it completely full. Or completely empty if you wish to try your hand at semantics."

Across from John, a sleek eyebrow rose as Jennifer finally spoke up and offered, "Looks full to me. Wouldn't you agree, Rodney?"

One half-hearted shrug later accompanied by a small sigh, Rodney answered rapidly from her left side, "The volume of the glass is divided into two equal parts; one a colorless, odorless liquid, the other a colorless, odorless gas. Thus the glass is neither full nor empty. Rather, each half of the glass is full. You can't say it's full in its entirety, Radek."

Zelenka looked ready to settle in for a debate but stopped as Ronon picked up the glass, chugged down the water with two steady gulps, and slammed it back on the table.

"I say it needed ice."


	16. Secrets

Songfic for Dwparsnip's challenge. 426 words. Thanks, Daniwilder and Koinekid, for the practical pre-reads.

* * *

Secrets of the Body and Soul

Secrets are funny things. No matter how long they're hidden from the world, they seem as shameful as the day they were created.

Most are buried so long they hardly matter anymore. Turned to nothing more than a funny memory the bearer learns to laugh off. Yet some have value even years later in a different galaxy. Especially when they originate from a source of great pain, such as the well-kept secret about to be shown light for the first time in nearly a decade. A secret about the Chief Medical Officer of over three years that no one would ever know, until now.

Doctor Jennifer Keller was known to be sociable on occasion yet most knew her as a private person overall. Only two people could say differently. Since one was worlds away, that left Doctor Rodney McKay of the original Atlantis expedition. How he managed to breach her defenses was a secret all its own; a secret neither minded to keep between just them.

Others had tried before she was whisked away to another planet, oh how they had tried. None were ever as successful as Rodney. Yet had she met Rodney in her late teens or early twenties, back when the secret was still fresh, he may not have had such success. It wouldn't have been possible, or granted for that matter.

Her heart had opened up to relationships since then and Rodney was the first and only to take up the permanent position. But with their wedding two months away, the secret edged its way forward in her mind and heart until she wanted nothing but to get it off her chest.

Surprisingly, such reasoning had actually pushed her failed attempts all the way to voicing it in a short two weeks' time. Even with talks getting longer each night they got closer to the wedding, she found she couldn't say it directly right away. He talked of wanting kids if they were anything like her. She talked of finding a dog to give him a second shot with one.

When the secret did spill from her lips for the first time, a single emotion accompanied each word: fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of the loss of his love; of his understanding; of her best friend. Each lifted with three simple words.

She had always been ashamed of herself for her inability to give birth but when Rodney pulled her that much closer, his eyes unwavering from hers, and gave voice to the simple words, only acceptance of the long-lived secret remained.

"You're still you."

* * *

Josh Groban performs the song "You're Still You" in his first album, _Josh Groban, _released in 2001 at just 20-years-old. The song hit number 10 on the Billboard _Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks_.


	17. What If 3

Post-death fanfic, you've been warned. This also contains some of my own cameos from an original story over on fictionpress. I don't own 'Jen' or Rodney, but the other two I semi-proudly claim.

What if: Enemy at the Gate Turned Out… Differently?

The door slammed shut and Jen Keller gripped her keys tightly to ward off the instant chill the garage offered her. The middle of March wasn't supposed to grant such weather but Wisconsin wasn't exactly known for that generalization. Her car stood waiting for her, the brave silver Nissan Sentra ready to battle through the shin-deep snow that had piled up since the end of her shift yesterday.

Getting out of the driveway, much less up the street, posed a problem. Though this car had been tested against the elements, that testing hadn't been done in her lovely home state. And the elements in Murray, Utah, could learn a thing or two from the elements here in Chippewa Falls.

The garage door opened and they faced the problem head on, just her and the car. They would make it off the driveway if she played it right and ended up in the tracks of the previous cars from further down the road. Easy enough. The Nissan started up smoothly, raring to have a go at the sudden snowstorm.

"Okay," Jen mumbled, putting the gearshift in reverse and starting out. She was doing fairly well until she stopped just short of the other tracks and tried to go forward from there. As hard as she tried to get the car to rock out of the self-made trap by going from drive to reverse and back, it wasn't working.

It was then she noticed her next door neighbor's daughter, Jennifer Gardner, watching her with a shovel in hand. In that moment, she found it odd they shared the same name but rarely talked to each other. Or they at least shared the same basic name. Jennifer Gardner refused to be called Jen and Jen Keller never allowed anyone to call her Jennifer anymore because of reasons better left alone.

A boy just a bit older than Jennifer finally stopped his strenuous shoveling behind her to see why she had stopped and then saw the car stuck just outside the tracks through the frozen snow. He took Jennifer's hand – she couldn't be more than sixteen though the years since Jen had last asked her age were too far apart to remember.

The younger Jennifer dropped his hand and dug her shovel into the thick snow just in front of the back right tire. The boy got the idea and valiantly started shoveling out all the snow possible from under and in front of the car. He came up to her window and offered her a warm grin, signaling the all clear. Cautiously with two people near, Jen put the car back in drive and tried not to spin the tires. Amazingly, they stayed stable on the snowy ground. She turned to wave her thanks out the back window and saw something that should have melted the snow all around them. The boy's arm was wrapped affectionately around Jennifer's middle, his lips pressed to the side of her head. A ghost of a smile overtook Jen's features as she took in the scene from quick glances in the rearview mirror. Rodney had been the same throughout their relationship.

The last thing that passed through her rearview mirror before the corner was a foreign car parked in front of the Gardner household. She could only guess it was the boy's. The parking was clumsy but the idea behind it perfectly sweet: rushing over to shovel out his girlfriend and keep her from the situation she herself was recently in. The look of pure contentment while in the other's arms stayed with Jen as she drove to work, wondering if Rodney would still have that same look when she next saw him. But until then, she hoped he was enjoying his time getting to know his would be mother-in-law.


End file.
